MGTO 231 Human Resources Management

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MGTO 231Human Resources Management

• Work Flows and Job Analysis I
• Dr. Kin Fai Ellick WONG

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Prologue

• Steps for applying HKSAR passport
• 1. Obtaining application form from Reception
  Counter
• 2. Giving payment at the Cashier Counter
• 3. Returning the form to a Collection Box
• 4. Calling you 20-45 minutes later
• 5. Meeting an Officer for information checking
• 6. Giving payment receipt to the officer

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1. Giving you another receipt and then passing your
   application for further process
2. (15 working days later) dropping your receipt to
   another collection box
3. Calling your name
4. Getting your new passport

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• An even extreme example
• Hong Kong Eye Hospital
• Initial check in at Room 1
• Getting application form from Counter A
• Passing the application form to Room 2
• Waiting outside
• Getting into Room 2 for vision checking
• Leaving Room 2 and waiting
• Going back to Room 2 to meet the doctor
• Going to Counter B for making next appointment
• Going to Room 3 for learning eye cares
• Going to Room 4 for surgery or treatment
• Going to Counter C to pay
• Going to Counter D to get the medicine

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Question for you

• Why does such a simple task as issuing a passport
  need so many steps?
• I hope you can get the insight at the end of this
  class

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Outline

• Interrelation between organizational structure,
  work flow, and job
• Organizational structure
• Work flow and work flow analysis

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Outline

• Interrelation between organizational structure,
  work flow, and job
• Organizational structure
• Work flow and work flow analysis

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Introduction (some key ideas)

• Duty of managers
• Organizing work into departments, teams, and jobs
  
• Keeping work to be performed efficiently in order
  to achieve the goal of organizations (providing
  valuable products and services for customers)

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• Organizational structure
• The formal or informal relationships between
  people in an organization
• How the units or departments in an organization
  interrelated with each other
• E.g., Whether all departments in HKUST directly
  under Prof. Chu, or create an in-between level
  called school (School of Business and Management)

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• Work Flow (??)
• The way work is organized to meet the
  organizations production or service goals
• Identify the processes through which a service or
  product is produced
• It can involve many steps (stages of processing)
  or just one
• Broken device ? receptionist ? engineer ? basic
  check ? fee assessment ? receptionist ? customer
  ? fix or not
• Broken device ? engineer ? basic check and fee
  assessment ? customer ? fix or not

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• Job analysis
• The systematic process of collecting information
  used to make decisions about jobs
• Identifies the tasks, duties, and
  responsibilities of a particular job

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Interrelationship between them

• Admission of a new undergraduate student of MGTO
• Us structure
• Vice-Chancellor ? School ? MGTO Department
• Vice-Chancellor ? Admission
• Work flow involves two departments only
• MGTO and Admission
• Job for each unit is not the same

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Outline

• Interrelation between organizational structure,
  work flow, and job
• Organizational structure
• Work flow and work flow analysis

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The simplest structure

• One man organization
• Few men organization
• All by myself/ourselves
• One person may need to handle multiple tasks
• Job duties may not be very specific
• The concepts of units / division of labor are
  very vague

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Bureaucratic Organization (??)

• A pyramid-shaped organizational structure
• Consists of hierarchies with (relatively) many
  levels of management

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• Source Managing Human Resources, 4th Edition,
  p.50

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• Top-down management approach
• Centralized
• Many levels of management
• Less flexibility on lower management
• Employees have less say and influence on decision
  making
• ???

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• Functional division of labor
• Employees are divided based on their functions
• Work specialization
• Highly specialized jobs
• Narrowly specified job description
• Rigid boundaries between jobs and units
• Employees or individuals working independently

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Evaluations

• Advantages
• Best in predictable and stable environments
• Repetitive work for front-line workers enables
  high efficiency
• Disadvantages
• Less efficient in a dynamic environment
• Lack of flexibility and innovation

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Flat Organization

• Only a few levels of management
• Emphasis on decentralization
• Encourages high employee involvement in decision
  making

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• Source Managing Human Resources, 4th Edition,
  p.50

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• Decentralized management approach
• Horizontal career paths across functions
• Jobs become less specific
• Broadly defined jobs
• General job descriptions
• Flexible boundaries between jobs and units
• Emphasis on teams

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• Product-based business units
• Hewlett-Packard (HP)
• 60 different product-based units
• Color printer, Laser printer, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.
• Each unit behaves like a mini-business
• Strong focus on customers
• Useful for total quality management

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• Advantages
• Best in rapid changing environments
• Creates a culture that fosters employee
  participation
• Disadvantages
• Top-management has less control and understanding
  what and how the lower-levels are working

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Boundaryless Organization

• Enables organization to form relationships with
  customers, suppliers, and/or competitors
• Pool resources for mutual benefits
• Encourages co-operation in uncertain environment

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• Source Managing Human Resources, 4th Edition,
  p.50

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• Joint ventures
• Sharing talented employees, intellectual
  properties, financial resources
• ???? (Bank of China Group)
• Share many characteristics of flat organizations
• Cross boundaries
• Emphasis on teams

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• Boundaryless structure is used when
• Adopting a total quality management strategy
• Entering foreign markets
• Need to manage the risk of developing expensive
  new technology
• Share the risk and potential rewards with others

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Strategy and Organizational Structure

• Defender strategy
• Bureaucratic organization
• Top management has the key responsibility for
  decision-making
• Emphasis efficiency on specific jobs

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• Prospector strategy
• Flat or boundaryless organizations
• Flexibility that enables rapid change is the key
• Innovation and customer service are highly
  emphasized

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Conclusion

• Why does such a simple task as issuing a passport
  need so many steps?
• It is related to business strategy and the
  organizational structure of Hong Kong Government

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Question for you

• Hong Kong Government
• Strategy Defender or prospector?
• Structure Bureaucratic or flat?
• Preferred work flow choices
• Centralized, control, specific job description,
  narrow job variety, etc..
• It is changing to be less bureaucratic

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Outline

• Interrelation between organizational structure,
  work flow, and job
• Organizational structure
• Work flow and work flow analysis (next lesson)

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What is work flow analysis?

• The process of examining
• How work creates or adds value to ongoing
  processes in business
• How a product or service can be delivered to
  customers
• Basic processes
• Input (a work) ? add values ? to other workers

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Importance of work flow analysis

• It helps identifying steps or jobs that can be
  combined, simplified, or even eliminated
• Re-organization of work so that teams rather than
  individual workers are the sources of value
  creation
• Receptionists ? Customer service unit
• Improve company performance
• Business process reengineering

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Business process reengineering

• A fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of
  business process
• To achieve dramatic improvement in cost, quality,
  service, and speed
• Reengineering is not totally equal to
• Restructuring
• Layoff

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• Source Managing Human Resources, 4th Edition,
  p.53

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Critics of reengineering

• May not achieve its objectives
• Importance of identifying indicators for
  assessment
• However, it causes frustration and disruptions to
  established work patterns